The hockey influencer, who held many positions in the association, rose to the top.
Heikki Hietanen will start his position at the beginning of next year. PASI LEISMA
Heikki Hietanen, 64, has been elected as the new chairman of the Ice Hockey Association. The federal council voted on the matter on Saturday.
In the end, only two people were nominated for the management position. Hietanen’s counter-candidate was a Konkar coach Erkka Westerlund66. Hietanen won the vote 26–6.
Hietanen, a board member of the International Ice Hockey Federation, is a man familiar to the Finnish Federation. He is the former CEO of the Jääkieksliitto and also worked as the general secretary of the last World Cup home games.
– I bring this experience to the use of the Ice Hockey Association and Finnish ice hockey. We have big tasks in hockey. I am ready to take on the challenges and raise Finnish ice hockey in such a way that our public image improves and the various issues circulating in the media are brought under control, Hietanen said after his election.
In recent days, there has been talk about the relationship between the men’s SM league and the Ice Hockey League. The topics of discussion have been, among other things, the league qualifiers, the renewal of the series and the promotion of Mestis. Even at this stage, Hietanen did not want to take a big stand on the development of series systems.
– We have a lot to fix. First, there’s what the series system will be like at the end of the decade and the beginning of the next decade. We have to make guidelines for the future and go towards it, Hietanen commented roundly.
The current chairman of the association Harri Nummela moves to the side at the end of the year. Nummela started in his position in 2016 Kalervo Kummola as a follower.
– There was a lot of activity outside the rink here. We fought during the pandemic. There was a lot to think about geopolitically, Nummela recalls his time as chairman.
The Ice Hockey Federation has also received criticism for its actions related to equality and harassment.
– Responsible work and eradicating inappropriate behavior from Finnish hockey requires work in society as a whole. It’s a big construction site, where we spend a lot of time in the first few meters.
During Nummela, the World Ice Hockey World Championships were also played twice and the men’s national team achieved a lot of success.
The former chairman hopes that by staying on the sidelines, new winds will blow in the union after the change of chairman.
Harri Nummela started as chairman in 2016. Jussi Saarinen